What?

Host Derby aims to provide temporary accommodation with volunteer hosts in their own homes, offering a lifeline for vulnerable individuals. Hosts will be supported to welcome an individual in their home, from a few days to a few months. Guests will be supported to access the right help and re-engage with the asylum system, and move on with their lives. All hosts will receive training and will be matched with the right person who needs their support. Each host family can decide how long they host people for, and how often they take a new guest.

Why?

Those seeking asylum in the UK have experienced untold horrors in their home countries, fled their homes and travelled with great difficulty across the world to find safety here. Yet many find their claims for asylum rejected and are left homeless, penniless and without the right to work or support themselves in the UK. There are various reasons why people are refused asylum in the UK, including poor legal representation, lack of material evidence to support their claim (e.g. not having access to original paperwork or IDs from their home country), and poor decision making by the Home Office. We know that many individuals who have been supported to find new solicitors or access new evidence have overturned their original asylum refusal. Having a safe place to stay is vital to those who are trying to reapply for asylum, and that's where Host Derby will play an important part for these individuals.

Between June 2016 and May 2017, The British Red Cross Identified 204 destitute asylum seekers and refugees living in Derby - destitution is defined as having no access to statutory support or accommodation, and with no right to work. Some people end up street homeless, whilst others find insecure accommodation, often in poor living conditions (e.g. sleeping on sofas or floors in friends’ houses).

We want to be able help people like Asim from Sudan. Asim was originally denied refugee status, but went to appeal. During the waiting period, his government support was stopped and he was made destitute. He was forced into sleeping on the street, exposed to cold weather and the threat of physical abuse. Because of his experiences of torture, Asim struggles to sleep, so he had many restless nights out in the open. You can read his story here.

Who?

Host Derby will be run by Upbeat Communities, in partnership with The British Red Cross, Derby Refugee Advice Centre, Metropolitan Housing, Derby City Mission and Derby City of Sanctuary.

Open hearts and homes this Christmas

THANK YOU to everyone who gave as part of the Big Give's Christmas Challenge 2017. In the week of the fundraiser, we managed to exceed our target:

The Challenge may have ended, meaning that donations can no longer be matched, but you can still give to the project. Every pound donated will help someone in need.